The Kinks Greatest Hits! (also spelled The Kinks' Greatest Hits!) is a compilation album by the English rock band the Kinks. Released in the United States in August 1966 by Reprise Records, the album features singles issued by the group between 1964 and 1966. It was the band's first greatest hits album and remained on the Billboard Top LPs chart for over a year, peaking at number 9, making it the Kinks' highest-charting album in the US. The album stayed in print for decades and was the Kinks' only gold record in America until 1980.
Reprise Records released The Kinks Greatest Hits! in the US on 10 August 1966. The band's first greatest hits album, it primarily consists of singles issued by the group between 1964 and 1966, including tracks like "You Really Got Me" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," recorded in mid-July 1964 and February 1966, respectively. All the tracks were recorded at Pye or IBC Studios in London and were produced by Shel Talmy. "Something Better Beginning" is the only non-single on the album, first issued on Kinda Kinks (1965).
The album's liner notes include one of the earliest instances of Ray Davies, the Kinks' principal songwriter, being characterized as a genius. Author Thomas M. Kitts suggests that describing Davies as "a brooding-faced, long-haired genius" was an attempt to connect him to the English poet Lord Byron. Ed Thrasher's cover art for the album, which features several concert photographs of the band, contributed to its collectibility.
